Brewport setting up new shop in Bridgeport

WILL SISS | REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

01_FEA_060116WS04 – A collection of vintage Connecticut brewery delivery boxes, owned by Jeff Browning, partner and head brewer at the soon-to-open BrewPort Brewing in Bridgeport. Will Siss Republican-American01_FEA_060116WS02 – Bruce Barrett (left) and his brother John Barrett (right) stand with their friend since childhood, Jeff Browning (middle) at the site of the three partners’ BrewPort Brewing in Bridgeport, about five weeks before a planned opening in early July. Will Siss Republican-AmericanWill Siss Republican-American Co-owner and head brewer Jeff Browning of BrewPort Brewing with his new sign advertising the brewpub he plans to open in early July.

New brewery activity is aflutter in Connecticut, but you don’t see many folks opening in cities or launching brew pubs.

Jeff Browning and two partners are doing both of those with Brewport Brewing in Bridgeport, where they hope to start pouring for the public the first week of July.

Browning, who until last year was the brewmaster at BruRm@Bar in New Haven, has partnered with brothers Bruce and John Barrett to run something similar: a pizza restaurant that serves its own beer. Beer and food is new to the Barrett brothers, who have been friends with Browning since childhood and run the West Haven firm Barrett Outdoors Communications, a billboard company.

I caught up with Browning and the Barretts in late May, and got a walk-through of their under-construction space. Beaming with pride, the partners shared with me their vision for what they hope will continue a revitalization of the South End of Bridgeport.

It was Bruce Barrett who way back in 2000 saw the former newspaper distribution facility on South Frontage Street as a possible site for a brewpub. At the time it was simply an investment for Barrett Communications: a spot where they could place a billboard that could be seen from Route 25 and Interstate 95, both of which pass by the 16,000-square-foot building.

After years of standing vacant, the building is undergoing a transformation. Starting with the entrance off what promises to be a 114-space parking log, Browning pointed out where newspaper boxes will hold menus. He noted where they’ll be space for chess games and Jenga, a room for displaying work from local artists, rooms for private parties and conference space.

In the main room, where clutter and dusty pieces of old machinery lie scattered about, they’ll be a 33-seat bar, he said, deep enough to place an entire pizza. The partners plan to repurpose tables where newspapers were once folded, turning them into communal seating. There will be a section of raised booths for more intimate dining, with room for seating 225 people altogether.

In the middle of the main room, there will be a pizza oven. We walked past where the grain room will be, and we saw the brewhouse, which will be visible behind 42-inch high glass. Brewport will have the ability to have 120 barrels of beer on tap at any given time, with an annual capacity of more than 3,000 barrels (a barrel is equal to 31 U.S. gallons).

Face of the place

While Browning is keeping the identify of his pizza chef hidden for now, it will be Browning himself who’ll be the face of the beer. With decades of experience as a homebrewer and at BruRm, Browning brings with him a strong reputation for making consistently good beer. Brewport will serve eight of its own beers at a time, which will include a mix of styles, from session India pale ale to strong ales, and even lagers and a non-alcohol root beer. There will be a tap for beers made by Terry Foster, a brewer, organic chemist, writer, and expert on classic beer-making techniques.

As a collector of brewinalia for many years, Browning will have plenty of Connecticut beer history to display. Stacked and ready for ogling were 14 vintage boxes breweries used to deliver beer to people’s homes. Among the artifacts included examples from Wehle Brewing of West Haven, Leary’s of Waterbury, and Bridgeport Brewing Company.

“We’re bringing history back to Bridgeport,” Browning said.

He means that in another way as well: since he has access to 30,000 batch sheets – recipes, essentially – from a variety of old Connecticut breweries, he plans to resurrect some of them with the help of Foster, a friend and brewing partner for many years.

Sign of the times

The biggest hurdle was overcoming the idea of running a business in Bridgeport, which John described as the last of Connecticut’s cities to “fully come back.” It didn’t take long for him to change his mind about The Park City, and he’s particularly excited about attracting clientele from the local collages.

Being 30 seconds off two highways doesn’t hurt either. As any billboard expert will tell you, location is everything.

“I love Bridgeport, and the South End needs something,” Bruce said. He understood that it was a risk to take on a brewpub as opposed to a small brewery, but he quoted the fictional Oscar Madison of “The Odd Couple,” who said, “Everybody needs pizza and beer.”